[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR600.345]

[Page 42-44]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 600--MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT PROVISIONS--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart D--National Standards
 
Sec. 600.345  National Standard 8--Communities.

    (a) Standard 8. Conservation and management measures shall, 
consistent with the conservation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act (including the prevention of overfishing and rebuilding of 
overfished stocks), take into account the importance of fishery 
resources to fishing communities in order to:
    (1) Provide for the sustained participation of such communities; and
    (2) To the extent practicable, minimize adverse economic impacts on 
such communities.
    (b) General. (1) This standard requires that an FMP take into 
account the importance of fishery resources to fishing

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communities. This consideration, however, is within the context of the 
conservation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Deliberations 
regarding the importance of fishery resources to affected fishing 
communities, therefore, must not compromise the achievement of 
conservation requirements and goals of the FMP. Where the preferred 
alternative negatively affects the sustained participation of fishing 
communities, the FMP should discuss the rationale for selecting this 
alternative over another with a lesser impact on fishing communities. 
All other things being equal, where two alternatives achieve similar 
conservation goals, the alternative that provides the greater potential 
for sustained participation of such communities and minimizes the 
adverse economic impacts on such communities would be the preferred 
alternative.
    (2) This standard does not constitute a basis for allocating 
resources to a specific fishing community nor for providing preferential 
treatment based on residence in a fishing community.
    (3) The term ``fishing community'' means a community that is 
substantially dependent on or substantially engaged in the harvest or 
processing of fishery resources to meet social and economic needs, and 
includes fishing vessel owners, operators, and crew, and fish processors 
that are based in such communities. A fishing community is a social or 
economic group whose members reside in a specific location and share a 
common dependency on commercial, recreational, or subsistence fishing or 
on directly related fisheries-dependent services and industries (for 
example, boatyards, ice suppliers, tackle shops).
    (4) The term ``sustained participation'' means continued access to 
the fishery within the constraints of the condition of the resource.
    (c) Analysis. (1) FMPs must examine the social and economic 
importance of fisheries to communities potentially affected by 
management measures. For example, severe reductions of harvests for 
conservation purposes may decrease employment opportunities for 
fishermen and processing plant workers, thereby adversely affecting 
their families and communities. Similarly, a management measure that 
results in the allocation of fishery resources among competing sectors 
of a fishery may benefit some communities at the expense of others.
    (2) An appropriate vehicle for the analyses under this standard is 
the fishery impact statement required by section 303(a)(9) of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. Qualitative and quantitative data may be used, 
including information provided by fishermen, dealers, processors, and 
fisheries organizations and associations. In cases where data are 
severely limited, effort should be directed to identifying and gathering 
needed data.
    (3) To address the sustained participation of fishing communities 
that will be affected by management measures, the analysis should first 
identify affected fishing communities and then assess their differing 
levels of dependence on and engagement in the fishery being regulated. 
The analysis should also specify how that assessment was made. The best 
available data on the history, extent, and type of participation of 
these fishing communities in the fishery should be incorporated into the 
social and economic information presented in the FMP. The analysis does 
not have to contain an exhaustive listing of all communities that might 
fit the definition; a judgment can be made as to which are primarily 
affected. The analysis should discuss each alternative's likely effect 
on the sustained participation of these fishing communities in the 
fishery.
    (4) The analysis should assess the likely positive and negative 
social and economic impacts of the alternative management measures, over 
both the short and the long term, on fishing communities. Any particular 
management measure may economically benefit some communities while 
adversely affecting others. Economic impacts should be considered both 
for individual communities and for the group of all affected communities 
identified in the FMP. Impacts of both consumptive and non-consumptive 
uses of fishery resources should be considered.
    (5) A discussion of social and economic impacts should identify 
those

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alternatives that would minimize adverse impacts on these fishing 
communities within the constraints of conservation and management goals 
of the FMP, other national standards, and other applicable law.

[63 FR 24234, May 1, 1998]